McLean County Times

The Illinois State University cross country team will begin its 2025 season at the Fighting Illini Invitational on August 29. The event will take place at the University of Illinois Orange and Blue Golf Course in Savoy, Illinois, with the women's 4k race starting at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 6k at 11:30 a.m.

Jeff Bovee, who is entering his 19th year as head coach of the Redbird cross country program, commented on the change in venue for the season opener. "We haven't started the season at Illinois in a while. We usually head over to Iowa for the first meet of the year, but we decided to change it up and try something new," said Bovee.

Athletes will compete primarily on fairways, running two loops around much of the golf course before finishing on a straightaway. The same course hosted the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships.

Six freshmen—four women and two men—will make their collegiate debuts for Illinois State during this meet. Among them is Sophia Baumert, who was recognized four times as an all-conference runner in high school cross country. Baumert expressed optimism about joining the team: "I'm feeling very confident, hopeful and positive about this season. The team camaraderie is nothing less than supportive, uplifting, determined and hardworking. We all blend together so well, and the returners have made our transition easy, fun and stress free."

Coach Bovee also shared his outlook for both squads. On the women's side he stated: "For the women, we are certainly much improved from last year, even though we're young. I expect them to make a jump in their conference and regional finish from last year. The incoming freshmen are a talented group. We have seven newcomers on the women's team, and we need a lot of our new student-athletes to come in and make an impact right away."

Regarding the men's squad, Bovee noted: "For the men, we don't have any of our top five runners returning. After one of the most successful seasons the men have ever had, we will be asking a lot of new guys to step up, especially late in the season at the MVC Championships and Regionals. We have a really strong sophomore class."

The women's starting lineup includes Sophia Baumert (Fr.), Izzy Bing (Fr.), Nora Brady (Jr.), Cameron Crump (Fr.), Brooke Zeibert (Fr.), and Colleen Zeibert (So.). For the men’s team, Luke Barham (So.), Quinn Davis (Fr.), Will Gelon (So.), Owen O'Shea (So.), Blake Oleson (Jr.), Ethan Reynoso (Jr.), Logan Scott (Fr.), Garrett Slack (Jr.), and Josh Weeks (So.) are set to compete.